351W Future Engine Modifications - Request Expert Opinions

I have a 70 mustang 351W Ram Air Mach 1. its primarily used as a sunday driver. Its never been to the dragstrip. I want to increase the motor performance in a two phases due to marrage expenses next august. This is what I am thinking. Phase 1 (2004); intake, heads and roller rockers. Phase 2 (2005) 393 or 408 stoker, roller cam. I want to plan this out, and your expert opiions are requested and appreciated. A few questions to start this off. Will AFR 185's fit with my current engine setup? Will AFR185's be a good selection for street use when I stroke the motor? What roller cam would you recommend? What cubic inch stoker kit would you recommed for my application? All recommendations are appreciated. Let it rip!
My motor specs are: bored .030 over, stock rotating assembly, crane fireball cam, I think .469 / .494 lift, 214 / 224 duration, offenhauser dual plan manifold, holly 600 cfm, roller timing chain, fluiddamper balancer, milioden 8 qt pan, windage tray, MSD 6al, stock dist with crane adjustable vacumn advance and electronic pick up. Hooker 1 5/8 jet hot super comp headers, 2.5" dual exhaust with folwmaster delta mufflers. The car has a 9 " 3.50 traction lok rear end. TCI torque converter 2400-2800 stall speed, well built performance FMX tranny.

Depends on how wild this future engine is gonna be. A cyl head for a 600 hp 408 solid roller cam combo would be more then you need for your current combo. Say a "nice" 500 hp 393 is more inline with whats next, then I would go AFR 185's and they would work well now and later on the 393.
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Tim; thanks for your response. I am surpised no other responses came in. I am looking for a awesome steet motor down the road. Decent idle, good torque band under 6000rpm, 500 HP seems like a good number. Some of my limitations down the road are; I am limited on the intake options with the shaker. The performer RPM intake will barely fit from my estimates. I really don't want to replace the 1.625 hookers since they fit well and are jet hot coated. If the AFR185's will get me there with a stroker 393 down the road, than I would like to purchase them now if they will fit with my stock trw pistons and the cam that I have. Maybe I should call AFR and ask them if their will be enough clearance with the stock pistons before I buy the 185's. If they won't fit with my current motor than I will wait another year to do the complete stroker rebuild. Alan

ALAN The AFR185's should fit easily witrh your short block. I have .010 of piston out of the hole with 220* duration @.050 and i had .030 clearance between valve and piston.
The heads would lighten up the engine in 2 ways, weight and able it to breath well.
If it were me I would slap them on and later down the road stroke it as you said. Should get some mean ass torque numbers also.
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___________CHAS SAID__________________________ ALAN The AFR185's should fit easily witrh your short block. I have .010 of piston out of the hole with 220* duration @.050 and i had .030 clearance between valve and piston.

Great feedback, do you mean .300 clearance between the valve and piston?

500hp is easy in a393, I'm doing a build along these lines

go to www.enginemasters.com click onarticles then small block ford then read wicked windsor in a box pt 1 and 2

Alan yes i do mean that Im also at 530 lift at the valve. Sorry to many zeros. The duration may be short but you still should be cool. Good luck
ps. I checked the piston - valve clearance with playdough. couldnt find clay nearby so i stole my neices playdough. It was soft so I let it dry a bit then aplied and walla!!! [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_spongebob.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: chas319 on 8/21/04 1:55am ]</font>

If you plan on a 393 or a 408 I would use the 205 or the Victor Jr. CNC.

I had a set of 205's on my 375W and it was a real nice combo.

The bigger head is not going to hurt a thing, plus you only need to buy them once.

I'm building a 427 now with 225's.
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thanks for all the input, keep it coming all opinions welcome. The engine masters .com wicked windsor article is excellent and really helpful. I will read it in detail. It seems like a great buildup. So positive input for both the 185's and the 205's. Would the 205 fit with the trw stock pistons and the cam that in the car, If so I could use them for 1 year before the stroker build.

jst added a picture of my car. the upload worked!